Republican Senator Rand Paul held up Senate proceedings for more than 12 hours on Wednesday with an attempt to filibuster the confirmation of CIA nominee John Brennan. Paul challenged Brennan’s bid over the Obama administration’s use of drones in targeted killings, singling out the White House refusal to rule out strikes on U.S. soil.

Sen. Rand Paul: “I will speak until I can no longer speak. I will speak as long as it takes, until the alarm is sounded from coast to coast that our Constitution is important, that your rights to trial by jury are precious, that no American should be killed by a drone on American soil without first being charged with a crime, without first being found to be guilty by a court.”

Paul began the filibuster shortly before noon and lasted until after midnight, noting he would fall well short of Senator Strom Thurmond’s record 24-hour attempt to block the Civil Rights Act in 1957.

Sen. Rand Paul: “And I would go for another 12 hours to try to break Strom Thurmond’s record, but I’ve discovered that there are some limits to filibustering, and I’m going to have to go take care of one of those in a few minutes here.”